Seten Goreme Reviews

We had dinner at this restaurant on our second evening in Goreme. It was recommended by the owner of the Kelebek Hotel where we stayed, and only a few minutes walk to get there. It is located next to Sultan Cave Suites. The restaurant is quite large, with a main dining area in the center for larger groups, with adjacent side rooms for smaller groups. There are rustic wooden beams on the ceiling in the main dining area. The décor is simple, but pleasant. The side room we were seated in was quite intimate, with small coves in the walls in which some artistic decorations wwere displayed and stylishly lighted. This was a nice touch and added some ambiance.

When we arrived the place was empty save for one other table where they were just finishing dinner. There seemed to be only one waiter running the whole place. I didn’t see anybody else the entire time we were there. Despite that we were the only people in the restaurant after a time, the service was incredibly slow. The waiter would disappear for overlong periods of time, and could not be found. This was a bit odd, but not overly annoying as we were in no hurry. After a time it even became a source of amusement.

The menu is simple here, with about twelve main Anatolian dishes to choose from and a selection of some appetizers. The descriptions seemed very appealing with a variety of fish, meat and vegetarian. When it came time to order, we made our selections. I was told the one I had chosen was ‘finished’. Fair enough, I told the waiter to give me a bit more time. It was more than 15 minutes until he came back again. I made another selection, but was told that was ‘finished’ too. I was not going to let him go this time. I told him to wait while I made another choice. This time they had the menu item I picked. In keeping with the slow pace of this restaurant, the food was a long time in coming.

In the end, it was all worth the wait. The food is excellent here, well prepared, tasty and nicely presented. This was one of the best meals I had while in Turkey all together. Given the excellent meal, I decided on a desert too, which was also very good. Neither myself or my dinner companions found a single thing to complain on regarding the food. When we had finished and were ready to go back to the hotel, we waited some time for the waiter to come and check on us, but he never showed up in what would be considered a reasonable amount of time. I went looking for him at one point, but neither he or anybody else was to be found. I went back to the table, joked with my friends about it and we waited just a short while longer. We settled the bill and left satisfied enough.

One annoying aspect I should mention, other than the very slow service, was the music playing in the restaurant. It was some traditional Turkish instrumental music that was pleasant enough, but after a time I realized it was repeating the same song or two over and over. Had we not been there so long I may never have noticed it, but as it was it became slightly irritating after a while. I can highly recommend this restaurant for the great food, but you may have to be prepared to be there a while as we were.